Assemblywoman Galef will have an in depth discussion on Thursday, April 10th from 3-5pm at Cortlandt Town Hall, 1 Heady Street, Cortlandt Manor, NY about ways that school districts and municipalities can work together to save costs through sharing services.

Panelists include New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES District Superintendent Dr. Jim Langlois, Westchester County Association Chairman Al DelBello, and Cortlandt Town Supervisor Linda Puglisi. All have first hand experience working in an environment that promotes sharing and consolidation.

Each of the panelists brings a unique and critical perspective to the conversation about sharing and collaboration between school districts and government. Recently, Blind Brook Schools’ Superintendent Ronald Valenti had a “Community Views” article published in the Lower Hudson Journal News focusing on shared services. He suggested that, “…we unleash the enormous potential of our BOCES throughout the state to reduce costs through greater service sharing beyond what BOCES is legally allowed to provide.” Valenti also commented that he believes we are “…at a tipping point. If we don’t form a coalition with all the stakeholders to figure out how to share services to cut costs, we will never be able to get our constituents on board.”

Assemblywoman Galef is hosting this forum in an effort to find solutions to some of the challenges that face her district and the state in these economically challenging times. “It’s critical for us to look at how we can reduce our overhead,” said Galef, “even if it means making some compromises. I hope we can find a way to continue offering all the services we’ve grown accustomed to, but that will take some real collaboration between government, schools, businesses and unions.” This forum is an opportunity to bring together stakeholders and find realistic approaches to sharing.